


belonging to death (but to me first)

by xwannaflyx



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BAMF!Karin, Character Death, Gen, Happy Ending, I swear, Mind Control, Orochimaru being creepy, implication of previous genetic engineering, it doesn't stick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 18:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17472701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xwannaflyx/pseuds/xwannaflyx
Summary: Karin is very very VERY annoyed about the fact that Suigetsu gets his stupid ass kidnapped and he better be fucking grateful that she's chasing his stupid watery ass down. And there's Orochimaru.She had always known that if they had to choose that damned snake or death, they would willingly court death. She just never wanted to make that choice.





	belonging to death (but to me first)

**Author's Note:**

> written for Kunoichi Week 2019 Day 6: Quote for the quote "I swore to him that I would kill him before I ever let him belong to you again"
> 
> I love Karin in her ups and downs and chaotic glory. Hope this did her justice!

Karin has been chasing down Suigetsu's stupid ass down for three weeks, two days, five hours, and thirteen minutes. The idiot was lucky she was rather fond of him because if anyone else on their team had required her to chase after them to this extent she would have left them to die instead. “Goddamn you,” she snarled under her breath, flattening herself against the wall and breathing carefully as people fired shots in her direction. “Goddamn incompetent stupid stormtroopers,” she mumbled under her breath as every single shot managed to hit very very wide. She peeked around the corner and counted out five guards, crouched behind crates, firing at her. She ducked back and glanced down at her own guns. Shooting them from afar would be successful and keep her shoes clean but it wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying. With a sigh and a bloodthirsty smile, she loosened her ironclad grip on her control, allowing her hell chains to slip through her skin. This was going to be fun. 

It took her three minutes, two ruined sleeves, and a thoroughly bloodied pair of heels to walk away from the bloodbath. Pools of blood remained behind her as she smugly cleaned her nails, clicking toward the dark hallway and deeper into and deeper underneath the warehouse. 

“Fucking dramatic villainous dipshits with stupid ambitions that never pay their electricity bill,” she cursed when she stumbled in the dark. With another stumble and a curse, she coaxed out a hell chain using its glow to illuminate her way. The chain coiled around her neck and peeked forward slyly, as smugly obedient as any cat. Her steps echoed through the hallway, the click of her heels ringing back on her one after another. 

Finally, after what was far too much walking, she finally came to a single bolted, iron doorway. Sighing at the dramatics, she tried the doorknob, ever hopeful. When that proved unsuccessful, she turned to the hinges, expecting them to be thoroughly rusted. To her absolute lack of surprise, they were.

“Villains always seem to forget that metal doors in damp warehouses make for terrible hinges,” she commented to her hell chain, idly taking a step back and summoning more to her side. They answered her call eagerly, butting against her side and almost purring through their link. There was a frozen pause, filled with mindless, destructive glee, then the chains surged forward, smashing their way through the door.

“Karin.” The hiss was all too familiar. Karin snapped her eyes up, her chains coiling and hissing agitatedly, looking at the pale form and golden eyes that still haunted her nightmares and woke her up silently screaming. “I was so hoping to see you again.” Orochimaru smiled, his tongue flickering out to the taste the air and almost pleasure rippling across his features. “I missed you,” he hissed, taking a step toward her. 

She snarled, summoning her chains in their total glory, baring her teeth at the man that had tormented her and tortured her into the monster she was today. “Orochimaru,” she finally snarled back, tightening her control with effort, “ugly as ever,” she added, vindictive as always. 

Orochimaru hissed angrily but there was something dangerously smug in his expression. “You always were disobedient,” he said, almost agreeably. He licked his lips, the serpentine tongue flickering out into the air. “I think I need to teach you a little  _ lesson _ .”

“None of the others stuck,” she snapped back, shoving down part of her that always locked up in fear at his disapproval. (She remembered long nights, starving and bleeding and so desperate for a positive word or touch that she had obeyed him. She remembered being little, terrified of the almost mad golden glow of his eyes. She remembered everything.)

“I believe this one will hit,” he paused, smug victory written all over his face, “a little  _ closer to home _ .”

Karin frowned, not understanding until her eyes snapped to the shifting shadows behind him. She carefully centered her balance, her attention shifting between the moving shadows and Orochimaru’s stupid smug visage. 

Suigetsu stepped into the light. Suigetsu, the person she and her team had been trusting stepped into the light, his iconic sword resting on his shoulder and his sharpened teeth bared in a grimace. Karin felt something in her grow cold, looking at the man she had trusted with her back for years staring blankly at her from across a warehouse at the side of the man they had both cursed for making them into monster. 

She blinked. Wait. Staring blankly. Suigetsu wouldn’t stare blankly at anything if you goddamn bribed him. She swallowed, searching the blank purple eyes for any sign of struggle, of betrayal or anger or anything. “What did you do to him,” she said quietly, feeling fury, true fury which always came with the bite of ice and frost and a frozen heart, gripping her lungs. “What. Did. You. Do.”

“Minds are so pliant, Karin,” Orochimaru purred, his smile a twisted fondness as he gently pet Suigetsu’s head. “You of all people should know.”

She knew. She knew of how minds would break the way she knew the scars the decorated her ribs and arms. She knew of the way she craved his approval for all that she hated his existence. She definitely knew.

“Can you kill him, Karin?” Orochimaru asked, his lips curling victorious. “Could you hurt the man that rescued you and made you feel safe?” he cooed, his claw-like fingers stroking Suigetsu’s still face. 

Karin felt herself freeze over. Breathing felt like shredding her lungs and she wished she could scream but she refused to allow Orochimaru the victory. Taking in a slow breath, she completely loosened her control, allowing her eyes to wash golden, as golden as her chains whispering with delight. Orochimaru’s expression faltered, a single note of fear marring his expression. “I swore to him,” she said slowly, feeling her voice gain the strange echo of her hell chains. “I swore to him that I would kill him before I ever allowed him to belong to you again,” she said firmly, widening her stance and allowing her chains to grow and stretch around her, as bloodthirsty and eager for battle as ever. She turned her gaze to Suigetsu blank stare, “I’m sorry I’m late,” she admitted, swallowing at the strange stoicism of his expression. “I’m going to fix this.”

She allowed her fury to wash over her like ice, like fire, like returning him. As the hissing of her chains and their eagerness for blood grew louder and nearer, she knew no more. 

-x-

She woke up to her mouth tasting like blood and ash, the air smelling like brimstone. “Oh for fuck’s sake,” she groaned, slowly rolling over with several choice curses. She sat up slowly, feeling a little bit like she had gone on the bender of a lifetime. “You’re a bitch,” she added to the chains, ignoring their amused rustling and satiated cooing. “Fuck,” she groaned out again, finally sitting up completely.

“I can’t believe you were going to kill me,” drawled an all too familiar voice. Karin lifted her head, ignoring the way her heart skipped a beat at the sound. She suppressed the way her throat squeezed tight and relief threatened to swamp her. She had been so afraid that she had killed him too; she had resigned herself to it. Hozuki  _ fucking  _ Suigetsu grinned back at her, his sharpened teeth gleaming into the meager light and his eyes trained shark-like on her own.

She responded the only way she knew how.

“Fuck, you bitch!” he snapped, as she punched his head into a water stain. It took longer than usual for him to pull himself together, a sulky scowling adorning his face now. “What the fuck, Karin!”

“What the fuck, Hozuki!” she snapped right back, kicking in his direction and ignoring the way her leg flopped weakly. “What the fuck were you thinking getting captured?”

“Oh I don’t know,” Suigetsu snarled, rolling his eyes overdramatic as always, “maybe trying to keep your stupid hide from getting caught by stupid snake-face.”

“The answer isn’t getting yourself captured, dumbass!” she snapped, gaining enough energy to punch his face into a puddle again. 

“Fuck, woman!” Suigetsu snapped, dragging himself back together. “I’m fucking tired, stop that!”

“I’m tired, asshole!” she snapped, flopping a leg at him as aggressively as her noodle legs would allow. “I’m the one that had to fucking fight people—you’re the fucking dumbass that just stood there as a captive!” With those words, she remembered (past the constant irritation that Suigetsu caused) the situation. Her eyes darted around the room, taking in the clear destruction and the water damage and the scarring from some sort of flame weapon. “Where is he?” she demanded, ignoring the way something (fear) felt like it was choking her. “Where—”

“Karin.” Suigetsu’s hands on her arm were tight and almost alarming in their contact; it managed to shock her out of her spiral. “He’s gone.” His eyes fixed on hers, a familiar purple, darkened with unfamiliar emotion, “He’s gone and he’s never going to get his hands on you again,” he swore, uncharacteristically serious. 

Roughly swallowing down the fear, Karin, swiped his hands off. “I know that,” she snapped. They both ignored the way her voice cracked and wavered. Huffing with impatience, she attempted to stand and almost face-planted into the ground. 

“You just summoned your hell chains like woah,” Suigetsu joked, catching her easily. “I remember the way you eyes changed, Karin. There’s no way you’re walking out of here.” He smirk was all smug amusement and Karin suppressed the simultaneous urge to blush and also punch that smug smirk into a puddle. “Come on,” he added, helping her stand. Once she was a little more steady, he took a step back to retrieve his sword, getting back just in time to keep her from crumbling to the ground. “That’s not working,” he mused, keeping her up with one hand and strapping his sword to his back with the other. 

“Because you’re so helpful?” she snapped, smacking at him ineffectively. 

“I’m very helpful,” he said, sly and untrustworthy.

Karin’s eyes widened in horror as his smirk widened. “Don’t you dare—” Suigetsu swept her up in a princess carry. Karin snarled in impotent fury, smacking Suigetsu’s head and resenting the fact she couldn’t muster enough energy to turn him to water. “I can summon literal entities from hell and have them possess me,” she threatened, stabbing a finger between his eyes. 

“I’m aware,” Suigetsu responded, standing with her full weight, eyes crossed to look at her finger but smile all sharp amusement. “I died something like six times before I managed to shake off whatever Orochimaru did. I’m  _ well  _ aware of what you can do.”

Karin felt a little like drowning. It felt like embarrassment and also bit terrifying and the closest thing to joy and acknowledgement. “Well,” she said, with as much dignity as she could gather when in a princess carry. She crossed her arms and scowled at him, “It’s a good thing you didn’t die-die then. Juugo would have cried.”

“Only Juugo?” Suigetsu teased, grunting when she managed to kick her foot hard enough to connect although not liquidate him. “Alright, fine, fine. Sorry,” he said with a laugh, beginning to pick his way out of the rather wrecked room. 

Karin felt her adrenaline begin to crash and her eyes droop.With a little grumble, she forced her eyes back open, blinking frantically at the darkness. 

“Just sleep,” Suigetsu coaxed, surprisingly reliable. 

“If you tell anyone,” she threatened before being betrayed by her own body and yawning widely. 

Suigetsu snorted, his eyes shining strangely in the meager light. “No one would believe me,” he pointed out, “just sleep.” Karin blinked slowly, her eyelids suddenly heavy and her chain whispering secrets and reassurances. She blinked again and her eyelids stayed closed, her body going lax in his arms. 

Suigetsu risked a glance down at her peacefully sleeping face before focusing back on picking his way out of the bloodied hallway. It was rather strange to imagine this small peaceful woman as the same person that had torn the room to smithereens, eyes glowing a hellfire gold and chains warping and whipping around her like she could control her own storm. He shook his head with a small laugh. She never remembered after her eyes slipped gold but he remembered every single death he had experienced, the way the hell chains had ripped through him possessively, shredding the control and searching for him with warm fury and blinding determination. He remembered the moments they had cradled him and the moments they had killed him. He remembered the way she had fulfilled her promise for all the heartbreak that had suddenly crossed her features. He always remembered. 


End file.
